M. Henryon et Iw. Purvis, Eggs and hatchlings of the freshwater crayfish, marron (Cherax tenuimanus), can be successfully incubated artificially, AQUACULTURE, 184(3-4), 2000, pp. 247-254
The objective of this study was to test whether marron eggs and hatchlings
can be incubated artificially with high levels of survival. Marron eggs wer
e collected from 30 gravid females. The eggs from each female were divided
into two replicate groups, and each replicate group was incubated separatel
y within an artificial incubator until the eggs had hatched and developed i
nto independent juveniles. Eighty-nine percent of the eggs hatched and deve
loped into independent juveniles, while the variation in survival between r
eplicate female groups was not significant. These results demonstrate that
the artificial incubator was a suitable replacement for the maternal care p
rovided by the female marron after spawning, and that a uniform environment
existed within the incubator. The success of the artificial incubation tec
hnique enables experiments to be carried out on eggs and hatchlings indepen
dent of the females, under a common and controlled environment, and with ma
ny separate treatment groups. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res
erved.